Needle guide for shoe sewing machines



Aug. 7, 1962 1.. G. MILLER NEEDLE cum: FOR SHOE SEWING MACHINES Filed March 21, 1960 Inventor Lloyd G Miller By 722s Azzorney United States Patent Ofilice 3,048,133 Patented Aug. 7, 1962 3,048,133 1 NEEDLE GUiDE FOR SHGE SEWWG MACHENES Lloyd G. Miller, Beverly, Mass., assignor to United Shoe Machinery Corporation, Flemington, M3,, 2: corporation of New Jersey Filed Mar. 21, 1960, Ser. No. 16,427 7 (liaims. (til. 112-65) The present invention relates to improvements in Goodyear inseam sewing machines of the type for attaching welts to lasted shoe uppers and sole members, such as disclosed in United States Letters Patent No. 1,920,998, granted August 8, 1933, on application of A. R. Merrill, and more particularly to improvements in needle guides for such machines.

A needle guide in a machine of the type referred to is for the purpose of stififening an oscillating curved hook nee le against deflection or breakage as the result of movement of the work engaged by the needle in a manner to impart strain in the needle which, without the guide, would cause the needle to become damaged or misplaced from such position as will enable it to perform its function properly in the machine. In the machine of the prior patent the needle guide moves with the needle until its point penetrates the work and, thereafter, the guide remains stationary while the needle enters the work and retracts with a loop of sewing thread, the needle guide engaging the needle in close prorimity to its point of entry into the work.

To actuate the needle guide so that it moves in the desired manner and remains in close proximity to the work during the time of needle penetration, the needle is secured in a segment and suitable connections are provided for holding the guide stationary at the proper times. To mount the needle segment and the needle guide for oscillation in the patented machine, it has been common practice to secure the needle guide to a shaft passing loosely through the needle segment and extending in opposite directions through bearings fixed in the frame of a machine, so that the shaft may reciprocate, the work being fed by the needle while engaging the work. In addition, the shaft for supporting the needle may have rotatably mounted upon it a carrier for a channel guide, past the work engaging end of which the needle moves to support the work against the thrust of the needle. In an attempt to provide a rigid construction in the patented machine, the needle guide is fixed to the shaft on which the needle segment rotates and operates in a slot formed in the needle segment, which straddles the needle segment. Such arrangements have been found to be effective and to produce acceptable results.

To actuate the needle guide in the patented machine it has'becn found necessary to provide cam driven mechanism separate from the needle for rotating the needle supporting shaft on which the needle guide is fixed. In United States Letters Patent No. 2,041,945, granted May 26, 1936, upon application of A. R. Merrill, however, connections are provided for actuating the needle guide directly from the needle segment by means of a ball lock instead of utilizing a complete, separate cam mechanism as in Patent No. 1,920,998. It is obviously impossible to mount the needle guide in a slot of a needle segment as in the latter patent, while utilizing a simple ball-lock connection between the needle segment and needle guide as in Patent No. 2,041,945. This is because the ball lock must be engageable alternately with the needle segment and a non-rotating part connected with the machine frame, in order to hold the needle guide stationary after reaching a position close to the work being operated upon. The straddling relation of the needle segment prevents such operation. Further than this, it has been found that the needle guide of the machine disclosed in Patent No.

' 1,920,998 is subject to some flexure during operation of the machine axially of the supporting shaft so that the benefit of a rigid needle guide is not obtainable without unduly increasing the thickness of the needle guide along the mounting shaft.

An object of the present invention is to improve the construction and mode of operation of a needle guide in a Goodyear shoe inseam sewing machine of the type referred to in the patents above identified in such manner that a more rigid construction is provided, resulting in improved sewing operations with less needle breakage than has been possible heretofore. A further object is to provide an improved rigid needle guide having a ball lock actuating connection with the needle segment, thus eliminating the necessity for a complete, separate cam actuating mechanism for the needle guide, as in the machine of Patent No. 1,920,998.

The several features of the inventionare herein illustrated as embodied in a shoe sewing machine having a curved hook needle and other stitch forming devices, including means for supporting the needle for oscillation about its center of curvature on a segment, in which the eedle is clamped, the machine being equipped with a needle guide having bearing surfaces on both sides of the needle segment to support the guide for relative movement about the center of curvature in the needle. As iliustrated the needle segment has two widely spaced co operating bearing surfaces formed integrally therewith and arranged to engage the bearing surfaces of the needle guide, so that the axial length of the bearing surfaces for the needle guide are extended further than heretofore, with the result that a longer wearing, more rigid construction than in prior use is produced. To strengthen the construction of the needle guide still further, a tubular hub extends in opposite directions from a plane defined by the curvature of the needle, the needle guide straddling the needle segment rather than the reverse relation, as in Patent No. 1,920,998, and being rotatably supported on the tubular hub at opposite sides of the needle segment.v The construction thus outlined is particularly advantageous when it is desired to actuate the needle guide through the use of a ball-lock connection acting alternately between the needle segment and a relatively nonrotatable member connected with the machine frame, as in the machine of Patent No. 2,041,945.

These and other features of the invention consist in the devices, combinations and arrangements of parts hereinafter described and claimed, together with the advantages to be obtained thereby, as will readily be understood by those skilled in the art from the following description, taken in connection with the accompanyin drawings, in which: 7

FIG. 1 is a view in front elevation of a portion of a machine embodying the features of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a perspective exploded view of theparts cooperating to form a mounting for the needle and needle guide in the machine;

FIG. 3 is a detail front view, broken away and in section, illustrating the assembly of the parts shown in FIG. 2; and

FIG. 4 is a detail front view of the needle segment and the needle guide with associated parts removed and broken away.

The machine illustrated in the drawings is adapted for ewing the upper and welt to the sole of a Goodyear welt shoe with a chain stitch inseam and is provided with the usual stitch forming and work feeding devices comprising a curved hook needle 2, a looper 4, a thread finger 6 and a channel guide 8. Except as hereinafter described, the machine is substantially the same as that disclosed in Patent No. 1,920,998.

The machine is constructed with an enclosed frame including removable cheek plates and 12 at the lower ends of which are formed bearings 14 and 16 (see FIG. 3). In the bearings there are slidably and rotatably mounted the ends of a needle supporting shaft 18 passing through a needle carrying segment 20. The needle 2 is clamped to the segment by a bolt 22in a manner substantially the same as disclosed in Patent No. 2,041,945, except that the bolt 22 has a nut 24 accessible on the left side of the needle segment. To stiffen the needle segment 20 in its bearing on the shaft 18 so that as the segment swings about the shaft the needle will oscillate about its center of curvature defined by the axis, indicated at 26, of the shaft 18, the needle segment has an integral tubular hub 27 extending in opposite directions from a plane defined by the needle curvature to cover a substantial proportion of the shaft 18 along its axis.

In accordance with the present invention a novel needle guide slidingly engages the needle and confines its movements with improved accuracy to oscillation about its center of curvature. The needle guide is composed of a block 28 and plates 30 and 32 at either side of the needle segment formed with recesses 34 and 36, within which the guide block 28 is secured and with internal bearing surfaces 38 and 40 engaging external bearing surfaces 42 and 44 on the tubular hub 27 at both sides of the segment 20. The side plates and needle guide block 28 are held together releasably by a single fastening screw 46 passing loosely through the needle guide plate 32 and the needle guide block 28 and into threaded engagement with the side plate 30. By this construction the needle guide is capable of straddling the needle segment and is rotatably supported out of engagement with the shaft 18 by bearing surfaces on the hub of the needle guide, which surfaces are spaced along the axis of the shaft about which the needle oscillates. The needle guide also is readily assembled or disassembled from its position on the needle segment merely by removing the fastening screw 46.

For actuating the needle and its segment the segment is pivotally connected with a link 48, as in the machine of Patent No. 1,920,998. To impart a feeding movement to the needle and the parts assembled therewith the left end of the shaft 18 has an enlarged head fitting the bearing 14 of the cheek plate 10 and a diametrical slot in the enlarged head into which enters the rounded forward end of a feed lever 49 similar in construction and in mode of operation to that of a machine disclosed in an application for United States Letters Patent, Serial No. 840,148, filed September 15, 1959 in the names of the present inventor and Robert W. Bradley jointly.

To prevent movement of the needle segment and the needle guide axially along the shaft 18, the ends of the hub 27 for the needle segment engage the enlarged head on the end of the shaft 18 and a flanged sleeve 50 supported by the shaft 18 and passing through an opening in a carrier 52 for the thread finger 6 and the channel guide 8. The sleeve is rotatably supported on the shaft 18 and the carrier is held from rotation by mechanism for actuating the thread finger. The sleeve 50 is secured v to the carrier 52 by a screw 54 passing through the flange of the sleeve 5% into threaded relation with the carrier.

To actuate the needle guide a direct ball-lock connection between the needle guide and the needle segment is provided as disclosed in Patent No. 2,041,945. The rigidity of construction is preserved and the ease of assembly and disassembly of the needle guide parts are afforded by providing the side plate 30 with a perforation 56 at one side of the needle segment in which perforation is slidably mounted a ball 58. The ball is capable of engagement with either the needle segment 20 or the flange of the sleeve 50, between which the side plate 30 is confined. The right end of the tubular hub 27 on the needle segment also extends to the surface of the flange on the sleeve 50. To move the needle guide with the needle, the ball 58 is engageable with a recess 60 in the adjacent surface of the needle segment 20 and to hold the needle guide A in stationary position while the needle engages the work the ball 58 is shiftable in its perforation 56 into a recess 62 in the flange of the sleeve 54]. Movement of the ball into the recess 62 is produced as a projection on the needle guide engages a lug 63 on the flange of the sleeve 50 to stop movement of the needle guide.

From the foregoing it appears that a simple and rigid needle guide construction is provided which may readily be disassembled and replaced in any one of its several parts without necessitating more than a minor dismantling of the machine and that the rigidity of the needle guide, as the result of its straddling relationship with the needle segment and spaced bearing surfaces on the needle guide, produces a much stronger and effective stiffening action on the needle. Consequently, with the present construction needle breakage has been all but eliminated and such breakage as now occurs with the use of the subject guide is the result of engagement of the needle with foreign bodies found in shoe construction, such as staples, tacks, or toe lasting wires. Since the needle guide engages the needle in proximity with the work at the point of needle entry, a matter of critical importance has been found to be sutlicient rigidity to avoid fiexure, especially against forces exerted in a direction parallel to the axis of the needle supporting shaft 18. Thus, the rigidity of the needle guide and its ability to resist fiexure is of more importance than that of the segment in which the needle is clamped. I

The nature and scope of the invention having been indicated and a particular embodiment having been described, what is claimed is:

1. A shoe sewing machine having a curved hook needle and other stitch forming and work feeding devices and a shaft for rotatably supporting the needle for oscillation about its center of curvature including a segment in which the needle is clamped, in combination with a needle guide having bearing surfaces on both sides of the needle segment to support the needle guide for oscillating movement relative to the segment about the center of curvature for the needle.

2. A shoe-sewing machine having a curved hook needle and other stitch forming and Work feeding devices and a shaft for rotatably supporting the needle for oscillation about its center of curvature including a segment in which the needle is clamped, in combination with a needle guide formed with two separate plates having bearing surfaces at either side of the needle segment to support the needle guide for movement relative to the segment about the center of curvature for the needle, co-operating bearing surfaces formed integrally with the needle segment and engaging the bearing surfaces on the needle guide and means for releasably holding together the two bearing plates of the needle guide for assembly or disassembly.

3. A shoe sewing machine having a curved hook needle and other stitch forming and work feeding devices, and a shaft for supporting the needle for oscillation about its center of curvature including a segment, in which the needle is clamped and a tubular hub integral with the needle segment and extending in opposite directions from a plane defined by the needle curvature, in combination with a needle guide formed with separate plates straddling the needle segment and being rotatably supported on the tubular hub at opposite sides thereof and a single screw for securing the plates together.

4. A shoe sewing machine having a curved hook needle and other stitch forming and work feeding devices, and means for supporting the needle for oscillation about its center of curvature including a segment, in which the needle is clamped and a tubular hub integral with the needle segment and extending in opposite directions from a plane defined by the needle curvature, in combination with a needle guide block, and bearing members for the needle guide surrounding the tubular hub at either side of the needle segment, at least one of said bearing members being separable from the other to enable assembls of the needle guide with the segment.

5. A shoe sewing machine having a curved hook needle and other stitch forming and work feeding devices, and means for supporting the needle for oscillation about its center of curvature including a segment, in which the needle is clamped and a tubular hub integral with the needle segment and extending in opposite directions from a plane defined by the needle curvature, in combination with a needle guide block slidingly engaging the needle, and plates at either side of the needle segment formed with recesses within which the needle guide block is secured and with bearing surfaces engaging the tubular hub for the needle segment at both sides thereof.

6. A shoe sewing machine having a main frame, a curved hook needle, a thread finger and other stitch forming and Work feeding devices, means for supporting the needle for oscillation about its center of curvature including a segment formed with a tubular hub extending from both sides, in which segment the needle is clamped, a shaft passing through the tubular hub of the needle segment and into bearings in the frame to support the needle segment, in combination with a needle guide straddling the needle segment, and being rotatably supported on the tubular hub at opposite sides thereof, a carrier for the thread finger rotatably mounted on the needle shaft, a

flanged sleeve secured to the thread finger carrier, and connections for actuating the needle guide including a ball lock at one side of the needle segment, the ball of which is slidably mounted in the needle segment for alternate engagement with either the needle segment or the flange of the sleeve secured to the thread finger carrier.

7. A shoe sewing machine having a main frame, a curved hook needle and other stitch forming and work feeding devices, a shaft for supporting the needle for oscillation about its center of curvature including a segment formed with an integral tubular hub extending from both sides thereof and surrounding the supporting shaft, in which segment the needle is clamped in combination with a needle guide straddling the needle segment and having bearing surfaces engaging the tubular hub of the needle segment out of engagement with the shaft.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Haas Dec. 10, 1940 

